Quran (9:5) - "So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captive and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them."

Posted by Peace
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 6, 2013 at 5:39 pm

@downtown. Your post would have been so much more useful if you had stopped after your first sentence.

Why are so many "believers" so quick to condemn all those who believe otherwise, sometimes by just a little tick in an observance? Why can't they just respect the right of each person to determine what, if any religion, that person chooses to follow?

After all, despite all the protestations of "mine is the only true religion" and all the so-called "holy books," and "divine visitations," and "visions," there is no way to know who is right until each of us dies.

A recent New Yorker cartoon summed things up nicely. Scene, the gates to Heaven, one marked "Right Religion" the other marked "Wrong Religion." Both gates are wide open. People all queued up at the "Right Religion" gate. God on the side says to St. Peter: "They don't get the humor."

So why not try to live in harmony, which seems to get karma points in most if not all religious observances?

Posted by Ex-Peace Corps Volunteer
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 6, 2013 at 6:54 pm

I was in Iran in the early to mid Seventies, and I have read the Shiite version of the Quran. Basically, it gives a Shiite Muslim who cannot convert a non-Muslim permission to kill that failed convert.

Posted by The Bible says....
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 6, 2013 at 7:27 pm

Jesus said "The second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself" after saying that "The greatest commandment is to love the lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind" when asked what is the greatest commandment Matt 22. 23-40.

He also said "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation". Mark 16. 15 - 16.

Please can you tell me where in the Bible Jesus says that people who believe in other religions will burn in hell?

I think if Jesus were here today (or in Palo Alto on Sept 11) He would go along to the picnic to show that He loves all neighbors. He would also proclaim His own Gospel. Why shouldn't His followers do both.